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| Herring Gull with Crab |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Whimbrel |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Carrion Crow |
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| Grey Heron with stick |
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| Grey Heron |
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| Mute Swan and Redshanks |
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| Buzzard |
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| Wader flock |
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| Corvid flock |
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| Sparrowhawk |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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| Osprey |
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| Sandwich Tern |
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Sandwich Tern
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Another Monday off work on holiday and a decision to be made on where to go birding to be made. I eventually settled on popping over to Guardbridge, hoping that maybe there would be some early wader passage. Unfortunately I was feeling a bit unwell and almost turned around and came back home straight away but managed to make it through the morning into the afternoon.
I left the house at about 10am, the usual Herring Gull and summertime only Swift flock screaming around. A flyover Goldfinch and a Blackbird under a bush followed them onto the list. A Collared Dove pair wandered around on a grassy bank on Dens Road. A Lesser Black Backed Gull overflew the road, landing on a lamp post. A Woodpigeon perched in a small tree staring down at me as I passed. Feral Pigeon was added at the bus station. Crossing the Tay bridge a Cormorant was seen flying low upriver. Sand Martins were over the golf course at St Michaels. House Sparrow was seen from the bus as we passed through Leuchars. Mute Swans were on the Motray.
As I headed into the hide, Blue Tits and Great Tits were on the feeders with a Chaffinch perched in the tree above. A few Black Headed Gulls were on the mud below the hide with a Curlew on the opposite shoreline. A bit of scanning picked out Redshanks camouflaged against the brown mud and washed up seaweed. Further downstream stood a Grey Heron, near a couple of Lapwings and surprisingly a pair of Pink Footed Geese (likely injured birds left behind from the winter). A Common Sandpiper flew low out over the river and Oystercatcher was the next find along the shoreline mud. A few Mallard in eclipse plumage roosted by the river and one or two Swallows swooped low over the water. Carrion Crows, an adult and a juvenile, landed on the exposed mud in front of the hide, the youngster noisily begging to be fed.
Herring Gulls, Common Gulls, a few Lesser Black Backed Gulls and Black Headed Gulls slept and stood around together near the bend in the river opposite the paper mill. The first Buzzard of the day put in a brief appearance in the evergreens on the far bank. House Martins and a few Swifts were seen above the hide hawking for insects. Six Canada Geese appeared from below the bank clambering out onto the mud round towards the airbase. Two Dunnocks were feeding below the feeders along with a Blackbird, while above them families of Great Tits and Blue Tits took turns on the peanut feeders.
A Herring Gull caught a crab and made rather short work of cracking the underside of it and eating the contents before swallowing the legs one at a time. A small bird zipped by past the window, its unexpected elongated shape taking a second or two to register what it actually was - a Kingfisher, slightly out of context - more often seen flying a few inches above the river. A nice surprise. A Stock Dove flew by a few minutes later. A Grey Heron dropped into the river in front of the hide, striding slowly through the shallow water looking for, and catching, a fish or two. A wader with a long curved beak landed on the shore to the left of the hide. Unexpectedly it turned out to be a Whimbrel rather than the usual Curlew and I was able to get good views before the bird flew upriver again a minute or so later.
A young Grey Heron appeared to be practicing its hunting with a branch, dropping it into the river before stabbing and grabbing it again as it floated away. It did this a few times before getting bored or distracted and letting it float off. I haven't seen this sort of behaviour before but the bird was seen with another branch later in the afternoon briefly doing the same again though its interest appeared to wane much quicker second time around. A few Mute Swans sailed up the river. A few distant Shelduck were picked out through the binoculars adding yet another species to the day list. A Robin showed by the feeders to the left of the hide.
The first Osprey was seen well out over the river, flying eastwards before hovering once or twice but not fishing. A Buzzard appeared to be sunbathing on the roof of the small box hide used by the wildfowlers in below the trees opposite. A male Greenfinch popped into the feeders by the hide. Grey Heron numbers on the rubble and debris opposite rose from 5 or 6 birds to an eventual total of 13. One or two of them held their wings in strange poses as they soaked up the warm sun. A pair of Linnets landed on the barbed wire fence behind the Heron roost, and a few minutes later a Greenshank showed for a short while among the Redshanks before flying off again.
A bit of panic among the wader flocks seemed to suggest a raptor somewhere close by, but it took a minute or two before I managed to pick out the distant shape of a Peregrine as it headed in the direction of St Andrews from the Leuchars side of the Eden. Among the wader flock were a small number of Dunlin and Black Tailed Godwits which had been out of sight until being spooked by the falcon's presence. Possibly the same bird of prey was responsible for the sight of hundreds of corvids (most likely Rook and Jackdaw) swarming upwards from the fields to the south of the main road to St Andrews.
I had heard Sandwich Terns a few times throughout the afternoon but had struggled to pick out the distant birds. I eventually managed to see a trio of the birds well out above the incoming tide. Even further out, in St Andrews Bay, the distinctive white(with black wingtips) of Gannets diving could be made out despite the distance and heat shimmer. A Wren scolded loudly from the area between the hide and the river, appearing in the open for a second or two. The Sandwich Terns came much closer, with a smaller number of Common and Arctic Terns spotted a bit further out. The Sandwich Terns eventually spent a good length of time hunting above the river out in front of the hide giving really good views to a party of visitors with Fife birder, Kim Blasco along with 3 Ospreys out towards Balgove Bay. One of the Ospreys caught a fish and landed on a fence post near the Fife Bird Club hide to eat it. A Woodpigeon and a pair of Carrion Crows perched nearby, the crows being marginally more interested than the pigeon.
A bird above the hide caught my eye and turned out to be a male Sparrowhawk which proceeded to tuck the wings back before stooping at a shallow angle and disappearing to the south over the trees. The small group of birders watching the Terns and Ospreys were joined by an American couple, who were delighted to see the likes of the Blue Tits and Great Tits (although Woodpigeons were already a bit boring). I chatted to the Americans once the others headed off elsewhere, and managed to spot a Magpie in the trees, which was another new bird. As the time was now around 5.30pm, I decided I had best head off to catch the bus home (almost an hour later than planned).
All in all, despite not feeling anywhere near 100% I had an enjoyable day's birding from the hide with a mixture of other birders joining me at different times, helping to pass the time, and keep my mind off how I was feeling. 52 species were seen -
Arctic Tern, Blackbird, Black Headed Gull, Black Tailed Godwit, Blue Tit, Buzzard, Canada Geese, Carrion Crow, Chaffinch, Collared Dove, Common Gull, Common Sandpiper, Common Tern, Cormorant, Curlew, Dunlin, Dunnock, Gannet, Goldfinch, Great Black Backed Gull, Great Tit, Greenfinch, Greenshank, Grey Heron, Herring Gull, House Martin, House Sparrow, Kingfisher, Lapwing, Lesser Black Backed Gull, Linnet, Magpie, Mallard, Mute Swan, Osprey, Oystercatcher, Peregrine, Pink Footed Goose, Redshank, Robin, Feral Pigeon, Rook, Sand Martin, Sandwich Tern, Shelduck, Sparrowhawk, Stock Dove, Swallow, Swift, Whimbrel, Woodpigeon, Wren.